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The MLS Is Back Tournament began at Disney’s Wide World of Sports on Wednesday night with a game between Orlando City SC and Inter Miami, following the NWSL as the second team sports league to return to action in the United States.

While there’s concern about how well the proverbial bubble is doing at keeping players from contracting the virus after FC Dallas had to withdraw from the tournament and Nashville SC’s first game was postponed and their fate remains in question after nine positive tests, the tournament is moving forward as planned as of now. Prior to the first match, players from teams across the MLS joined Orlando SC and Inter Miami on the pitch for a Black Lives Matter demonstration, as Black players from around the league stood, fist raised, around the field as the players from the two squads getting set to play kneeled on the center circle.

On the video board behind the action, a graphic that simply read “#MLSIsBlack” was posted, turning their official slogan for the return of the league into a message about the importance of their Black players. It was a strong statement for the league to open with out of the gate and follows leagues from around the world that have held various demonstrations prior to games as sports have returned.

Of course, more important than a strong visual is that there are strong actions that follow, but it was a powerful statement that will hopefully lead to continued efforts by MLS.

The players that were a part of the demonstration represented the coalition Black Players for Change, which is partnered with the NFL’s Players Coalition in pushing for social change through humanitarian and educational efforts.

The MLS players originally announced their new effort on Juneteenth of this year. Their mission focuses not only on human rights and racial equality, but to eliminate racism from the game of soccer, which has been – and in many ways continues to be – plagued with systematic inequality around the world. The group has already secured $75,000 in charitable contribution commitments from MSLPA in support of the organization.

“We’re excited to formalize and announce our partnership with Players Coalition,” said Quincy Amarikwa, a co-founder of the newly-launched effort of MLS players. “Through this partnership, we see an opportunity to create a path that brings all players across all sports leagues together in our fight to overcome and move past the racial and discriminatory practices within our world..”

The group hopes to use their platform and voice to bring attention to issues of racism in the sport and beyond, and used Monday night’s opener on ESPN to make their strong statement.

Much like the NBA, the WNBA is preparing for an abbreviated season later this month at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. The WNBA season was originally supposed to begin in mid-May, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed it indefinitely. In what’s affectionately being called the “Wubble,” players will embark on their shortened season with strict safety guidelines in hopes of preventing the spread of the disease that has infected more than 3 million people in the U.S.

Back in May, when there were no pro sports on television for the first time in many people’s lifetimes, ESPN got the novel idea to air an NBA 2K tournament featuring stars from around the league. On Wednesday, Aerial Powers of the Washington Mystics announced she was putting together her own NBA 2K tournament, Powerz Up, featuring several stars from around the WNBA.

DIME spoke to Powers earlier this month about her side hustle as an up-and-coming 2K player, which is now putting to good use in this latest venture.

The Powerz Up Tournament! I’m so happy to finally tell you all what I’ve been working on for months!! Hard work + perfect timing = THIS GLOBAL EVENT! @Quita @HazelChildress_ @ALittleLady87 @BallaGirl13 @brittneygriner @angel_35 @diamonddoesit1 #wnba #wubble #bubble #2k pic.twitter.com/FbcJqx6gqb

— Aerial Powers (@aerial_powers23) July 8, 2020

“It’s an all female 2K tournament,” Powers said. “I have WNBA players in it, some pro 2K players in it, and of course, you know I gotta have the fans.”

Powers announced that the tournament will feature WNBA stars like Diamond DeShields and Brittney Griner, among others, as well as pro 2K players Chiquita Evans and Hazel Childress.

Powers has been streaming almost daily on Twitch and has been using the quarantine time to sharpen her skills and increase her presence in the gaming universe. In the video, she also hinted at a tournament that may take place while players are inside the Wubble in Florida.

Click to download here.

The time has finally come for the Frotcast to finally discuss Hamilton, a play Matt has seen and loved and thus far failed to convince me to watch. That is… until now! So, is Hamilton the defining theatrical achievement of our times or some cheesy overhyped schoolhouse rock bullshit? You’ll have to listen to find out. No refunds.

Joining us in our discussion this week, we have Francesca Fiorentini, host of the Bitchuation Room, founder of Newsbroke on AJ+, and frequent guest on The Young Turks, who once, along with Matt once forced me to listen to the Hamilton soundtrack on our way to the Russian River in the back of Matt’s Honda Civic; and Andrew Law, aka IllyBocean on Twitter and cohost of the BoontaVista Podcast, who, like me, was a skeptical Hamilton virgin, only in his case has the added hurdle of being an Australian who wasn’t forcefed the Founding Fathers and Constitutional Convention in school. Will this make him love Hamilton more or less?

It’s a spirited discussion, and naturally, Matt turns in many analingus puns for his Hamilton parody about eating butt, Lumilton.

Hey, we’ve got lots of amazing bonus content, especially these past few weeks, including me and Matt reviewing The King Of Staten Island. Hear them right now by signing up to our Patreon, Patreon.com/Frotcast. You will absolutely love it. Your hair will grow back, your dog will come home, and your kids will start calling again. And again, no refunds.

EMAIL us at [email protected], leave us a voicemail at 415-275-0030.

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The Brooklyn Nets are in Orlando for the NBA restart, but are without a number of their key players. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant both quickly ruled out a bubble return from injury early in the hiatus, and Wilson Chandler announced his intentions to opt out of the restart, citing family reasons, last week.

Then, three players — Spencer Dinwiddie, DeAndre Jordan, and Taurean Prince — tested positive for COVID-19 over the past week and have been ruled out of the restart, leaving the Nets with a roster that looks almost nothing like the one they had when the hiatus arrived, much less the one they started the season with. Justin Anderson was the first substitute player the Nets signed, after starring in the G League this season, in hopes he can bring them some depth at forward, but still had three spots open for substitute signings.

On Wednesday, we learned one of those spots would go to veteran guard Jamal Crawford, who has not played since he was a reserve on the Suns a season ago.

Crawford has been hoping to get a chance to play in his 20th season, but his lack of efficiency towards the end of his career coupled with his struggles on the defensive end were the chief reasons he had not gotten a call. The Nets, however, desperately need someone who can create on offense and there has never been a question of Crawford’s ability to do that. The former sixth man extraordinaire will look to give the Nets a much needed offensive boost in the bubble and prove he still belongs in the league.

The majority of WNBA players have made their way to Bradenton, Florida for the league’s 22-game season that hopes to start later this month, but there are a number of notable names that have opted out of this year’s season for various reasons.

Jonquel Jones, Natasha Cloud, Liz Cambage, Renee Montgomery, and others have all decided against going to IMG Academy for the WNBA season, with some citing health concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic while others are taking time away to focus on social justice reform. The reigning WNBA champion Washington Mystics are already without two key contributors in Cloud and LaToya Sanders, but may see their MVP Elena Delle Donne and former MVP and 7-time All-Star Tina Charles, who they traded for in April, also sit out.

The team announced both Delle Donne and Charles had not traveled with the team to Florida as they are awaiting results from a league medical evaluation to determine if they are medically excused from competing in the bubble. Delle Donne explained on Twitter that she is waiting to learn if her battle with Lyme disease puts her at high-risk for the virus.

As Kareem Copeland of the Washington Post notes, the key difference in being medically excused from playing is players that are excused not to play still get paid their salary, while those that opt out do not.

Delle Donne is coming off an historic season, in which she averaged 19.5 points and 8.2 rebounds while joining the 50/40/90 club with a preposterous 51.5/43.0/97.4 shooting split en route to a second career MVP award. Charles joined the Mystics from the Liberty in a draft night trade, coming off a season in which she averaged 16.9 points and 7.5 rebounds in her least effective and efficient season of her career, but hoped to bounce back in a big way with a Mystics team primed to compete for another title.

Losing Delle Donne and Charles would be an even bigger blow to the Mystics hopes of repeating as champions. Adding to the difficulty of the entire situation, training camp was hopefully to start on Friday, but any replacement players they would sign after getting results back would have to quarantine after arriving in Florida and further delay their time to try and put together a cohesive unit.

Back in May, word broke that, after a single season, Ruby Rose would be leaving her post as the star of DC’s CW show Batwoman. The reason for the actress’ decision was reportedly less than amicable, and although they would be replacing her with both a new actress and a new character, they wouldn’t be killing her off. As per EW, they’ve found the new Batwoman, and, like the casting of Rose, it’s another milestone.

Javicia Leslie, one of the stars of God Friended Me, will now lead the show, which will follow a character named Ryan Wilder, who’s described as “nothing like Kate Kane.” Here’s more from the official character description:

With no one in her life to keep her on track, Ryan spent years as a drug-runner, dodging the GCPD and masking her pain with bad habits. Today Ryan lives in her van with her plant. A girl who would steal milk for an alley cat and could also kill you with her bare hands, Ryan is the most dangerous type of fighter: highly skilled and wildly undisciplined. An out lesbian. Athletic. Raw. Passionate. Fallible. And very much not your stereotypical All-American hero.

When Rose was cast in the role, she became the first out LGBTQ+ protagonist in a superhero show. Leslie’s casting makes her the first black woman to assume such a role, and it sounds like they’ll be retaining the show’s queer aspect. In a statement, Leslie wrote, “I am extremely proud to be the first Black actress to play the iconic role of Batwoman on television, and as a bisexual woman, I am honored to join this groundbreaking show which has been such a trailblazer for the LGBTQ+ community.”

(Via EW)

“The issue on the table…”

Two of Hamilton’s most beloved numbers are the Cabinet Battles between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. In Cabinet Battle #1, the issue on the table was Hamilton’s national financial plan. In Cabinet Battle #2, the issue was whether to provide France assistance in their revolutionary war.

But there was a third rap battle written for the show, which was cut due to time and because it didn’t actually move the plot along. The issue on the table for Cabinet Battle #3? Slavery.

One of the few criticisms of the Hamilton musical is that it goes light on the issue of slavery—criticism that creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and others in the original cast say they welcome and hope people talk about more.

Squeezing a founding father’s life and a huge chapter in American history into a 2.5 hour stage production with adequate character development, plot movement, musical flow, etc. is a herculean task, and Miranda has said he wrestled mightily with what to keep and what to cut. Slavery is obviously a huge issue, but since none of the founding fathers in the show actually did anything to end it, the light treatment makes sense from a plotline perspective.

From a historical perspective, however, the omission is glaring. Much can be said about how the men who founded the United States thought about and engaged with the institution of slavery—and how their beliefs and actions were often at odds with one another.

Jefferson called the slave trade an “assemblage of horrors,” and slavery itself a “moral depravity” and a “hideous blot,” yet he kept more than 600 men, women, and children enslaved in his lifetime and fathered six children with one of them.

Washington became increasingly anti-slavery in his later years and was the only slaveholding founding father to free his slaves—but he only did so in his will. (He also had false teeth that may have been made up of the teeth of enslaved people.)

Madison argued that slavery was incompatible with the values of the Revolution, but he himself enslaved people his entire life, even selling people for a profit.

Hamilton himself, though publicly against slavery, did nothing of consequence to change it.

All of these hypocrisies and contradictions are highlighted as these men debate the issue in Cabinet Battle #3. It’s too bad it didn’t make it into the final cut of the show, but it can be found on the Hamilton Mix Tape album. And someone made a nice animatic video for it, making it a bit clearer who is speaking (since the recording has Miranda rapping all the parts):

Cabinet Battle #3 (Animatic)

www.youtube.com

And there you have it. “Let’s hope the next generation thinks of something better.”

As much as many of us would love to see the slavery problem tackled more directly in Hamilton, the truth is that at that time and in that place and with those men, slavery wasn’t going anywhere. It was wrong and they knew it, but they benefited from it. It was a sin and they knew it, but like Hamilton with Mariah Reynolds, they didn’t say no to it. Instead, they chose to pass the ticking time bomb to their descendents.

Miranda explained Hamilton’s slavery complicity in an NPR interview last week. “Hamilton—although he voiced anti-slavery beliefs—remained complicit in the system. And other than calling out Jefferson on his hypocrisy with regards to slavery in Act 2, doesn’t really say much else over the course of Act 2. And I think that’s actually pretty honest. … He didn’t really do much about it after that.”

“None of them did. None of them did enough,” Miranda added. “And we say that, too, in the final moments of the song. So that hits differently now because we’re having a conversation, we’re having a real reckoning of how do you uproot an original sin.”

Here’s another video of the song with the lyrics and names to make it easier to follow:

The Hamilton Mixtape – Cabinet Battle 3 (Demo) Music Lyrics

www.youtube.com

A little more than three years ago, I premiered a track from Buffalo’s Del Paxton on this very site, calling the track and their LP All Day, Every Day, All Night a “record packed out with great hooks and even some surprises along the way.”

Now, after some time off, the trio is back with “September,” another welcome installment in the band’s ’90s-emo-inspired catalogue. To celebrate the new track, bassist/vocalist Zack Schoedel sat down to talk Forrest Gump, Saves The Day, and Breaking Bad tattoos in the latest Indie Mixtape 20 Q&A.

What are four words you would use to describe your music?

Light, refreshing, inspirational, uplifting

It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?

It would be cool if people looking back on it from 2050 just assumed it was from the 1990’s and not 20-teens. This one thing might actually the determining factor in whether we consider ourselves to have been successful or not.

What’s your favorite city in the world to perform?

We’ve never toured outside the US. So in my imagination it would be Jakarta or Budapest. In reality, my favorite place to play has been right here at home in Buffalo, NY. But if that doesn’t count, I’ll say Brooklyn is my favorite place to play. RIP Suburbia.

Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?

If Dylan and Greg could be made into one person, that hybrid of a person would be the one who has most inspired my work. But that probably doesn’t count for an answer either does it? If not, I’ll just say Bob Nanna.

Where did you eat the best meal of your life?

The name of the place escapes me but it was a Mexican place in Albuquerque, NM.

What album do you know every word to?

Saves the Day – Stay What You Are

What was the best concert you’ve ever attended?

Believe it or not it was Marylin Manson and Alice Cooper co-headlining show in Buffalo. It was on a big outdoor stage by the harbor. I was actually working for the organizers of the show. I got to hang out on the other side of the barricade and was like 2 inches in front of Marilyn Manson while he did his insane thing. So I was standing in-between him and a sea of thousands of people. There were a lot of balloons and confetti.

What is the best outfit for performing and why?

Low cut jorts and a t-shirt. No shoes if possible. If shoes are necessary, no socks. Why? I don’t know. Why does the tide rise with the moon? Why does the rooster crow?

Who’s your favorite person to follow on Twitter and/or Instagram?

@Catatonicyouths.

What’s your most frequently played song in the van on tour?

Probably Third Eye Blind – “Losing A Whole Year.” And just by virtue of it being the first track on the best rock album of all time

What’s the last thing you Googled?

Honestly it was “options bandcamp.” Our buddy Seth from Chicago has a solo project called Options and he released his 6th LP today called Wind’s Gonna Blow. I’ve been excited about it for a long time and my excitement was justified.

What album makes for the perfect gift?

Something that someone would never buy for themselves. So usually a very popular band and a very popular album everyone loves kind of half ironically. Dylan and I bought Greg Dookie on vinyl for his birthday one year.

Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?

Many many years ago, long before the existence of this band, we drove to central coastal New Jersey to have a meeting with a record executive. We parked in a grocery store parking lot and slept in the van the night before. We woke up to people parking their cars and walking into the grocery store first thing in the morning. We then followed our mapquest directions to the palatial home of this record executive we believed held the key to our futures. It turns out he didn’t.

What’s the story behind your first or favorite tattoo?

I don’t have any tattoos but I keep thinking about getting a little alien guy giving a peace sign or an eight ball. Lately I’ve been thinking about getting a Breaking Bad tattoo as well.

What artists keep you from flipping the channel on the radio?

Santana feat. Rob Thomas is one of my favorite artists. That will usually keep me from touching the dial.

What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?

My parents raised me, which was very very nice of them. Believe me.

What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?

Stop eating pizza every day.

What’s the last show you went to?

If memory serves, it was Taking Meds. They have a new EP coming out which is very exciting. One of my favorite bands.

What movie can you not resist watching when it’s on TV?

Forrest Gump. It’s always on TV.

What would you cook if Kanye were coming to your house for dinner?

If Kanye were coming over for dinner, I’d make a nice risotto or lentil stew.

“September” is out now, with all proceeds going to the Buffalo-based organization Black Love Resits In The Rust. Listen here.

ABC has officially announced that a pilot is in the works for a reboot of The Wonder Years from Empire co-creator Lee Daniels. The updated version of the classic ’80s staple will focus on a Black family, but it will still take place in the ’60s and during a time of civil unrest.

Just like the Arnolds, the family in the rebooted Wonder Years will navigate a tumultuous time in America from their hometown of Montgomery, Alabama where there will be no shortage of historical moments as the country comes to terms with its ongoing legacy of systemic racism. Via Entertainment Weekly:

Alabama was the site of many significant events during the American civil rights movement, such as Rosa Park’s defiance of segregation on a public bus in 1955, a white supremacist church bombing in 1973, and the five-day march from Selma to Montgomery led by Martin Luther King that pushed the government to approve the Civil Rights Act in 1965.

The new Wonder Years will be executive produced by Daniels with The Big Bang Theory‘s Saladin K. Patterson acting as showrunner. However, fans of the classic Wonder Years will be happy to know that Fred Savage will be involved as both a director and executive producer, and original co-creator Neal Marlens will be consulting.

In light of the recent Black Lives Matter protests over the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, this updated version of The Wonder Years comes at a time when America is openly struggling to move past its beginning as a country built on white supremacy towards one that champions equality for all.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

A San Francisco lawmaker wants to clamp down on people who make racially-motivated 911 calls and it has a funny name.

San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton introduced an ordinance to outlaw racially-motivated 911 calls and it’s called the CAREN Act. The acronym stands for Caution Against Racially Exploitative Non-Emergencies.

Over the past year or so there has been a rash of incidents where white women have called 911 to report people of color who make them uncomfortable while going about their daily lives.

These people are colloquially known as “Karens.”

(Although there has been some push-back against the name Karen because it’s used to propagate a stereotype against white women. Shouldn’t those in the fight for racial justice stand against stereotypes even if they apply to the privileged?)

The calls put people of color in the dangerous positions of being arrested for a crime they didn’t commit or an interaction with the police that turns violent.

Recently, there was the woman in Central Park who threatened to call the police on a Black bird-watcher who asked her to put her dog on a leash.

There was the woman in Oakland, California who called the police on a Black family having a cookout.

There was also the woman who called the police on a Black man stenciling “Black Lives Matter” on his own house.

The list goes on and on.

The new law is an attempt to punish those who think that they can use the police to intimidate people of color who aren’t doing anything wrong. The bill is similar to California state Assembly member Rob Bonta’s Assembly Bill 1550 that calls for consequences for those who use law enforcement to based on biases toward race, class, outward appearance and religion.

Walton says both measures “are part of a larger nationwide movement to address racial biases and implement consequences for weaponizing emergency resources with racist intentions.”

“This bill could protect millions of Californians from becoming targets of hate and prevent the weaponization of our law enforcement against communities of color,” Bonta said in an online release.

Los Angeles City Councilman Curren Price introduced a similar bill recently to explore “criminal penalties, rights of victims to bring private civil actions and cost recovery by the City.”

The passed, the bills would work to give people pause before thinking they should use the police as a way to carry our their racial grievances or discomfort. They will also prevent law enforcement from having to dedicate resources to calls that aren’t important.

Hopefully, the bill will also allow all the women who’ve had to deal with being named Karen over the past year to sleep easy knowing that their name is no longer attached to an ethnic stereotype.